Key Concept Analysis: Codes and Conventions

All media products have conventions they tend to stick to, and short films are no different. Typical conventions of short films are very evident in this product, the most obvious of all being the length. Short films tend to be between 3-10 minutes long, with this clip being no exception. (3:06) In my opinion, short films are often more powerful than feature length films as you get a short but hard-hitting piece of work, feature length films tend to have moments that feel very 'empty', as if they're just filling time. in short films, every second counts, and so only the best bits make the cut.  This links in with the next typical convention, which is to use a limited number of characters. This could be for many reasons, such as budget, or availability, but more often than not, only the most important details are included in the short film, so there is simply not enough time to introduce and represent 12 supporting roles in a story based around 1 person. It is much more effective to allow the audience to truly get to know and understand one character, than have a vague idea about who several characters might be. This is especially highlighted in the above clip. Although throughout the clip we see 6 different characters on screen, the only one we are directly told about is the main character, the young girl. We can assume the identities of the other character, but based on the fact that it is not pointed out to use specifically during the film, their identities are less important to us.  They do not waste a second of this short film with 'gap filling', we learn everything we need to know about our main character in the form of a recording of her voice, talking about her feelings. It is hinted multiple times that this may have been a suicide note left by the girl, and the audience can assume that is the case.  A technique often found in short films is the idea of representation. As seen in this film, the creator tends to hint at ideas, and hopes that the audience will figure it out. We see a woman who appears to be the girl's mother, sitting with the girl's school photo. At the beginning, this seems of no significance to the audience, as the film progresses, this moment becomes more and more powerful as we realise that this is her mother, listening to a cassette tape, mourning her child. The narration on the tape drags the audience in, and we are submerged into the girl's thoughts and feelings. slowly, we are made to realise what the girl is talking about. Throughout the film we learn that the young girl does plan to commit suicide, but it is represented so tastefully and delicately that the audience are able to genuinely feel for the girl, and for her mother. (in some films I've watched, suicide has been represented in a very unrealistic way e.g. the feature length film Cyberbully, in which a girl who has been bullied for what appears to be a week, attempts to commit suicide. She fails, and then everybody feels bad and starts being friendly to her. This can't be a good message, surely?)  The 'storytelling' of this short film was constructed cleverly. The cassette tape provides a past tense context to the real time images the audience sees. We see the girl's life before her suicide, so the audience gets to see a character that they can relate to, yet, I feel that the camera work is what really gives this film its power. The soft colour correction helps the audience to understand and feel the serenity the girl is experiencing in her 'special place' and also gives us a strong feeling of innocence. The camera allows us to see what she sees, without being shot in first person perspective. Even in the darkest of times she is still seeing the beauty in the world, and this is cast out onto the audience. We are her. in that moment we feel what she feels.